Day 47 – Status Update and Good News from the Professor

Well, yesterday was a good day! Had the park to myself in the morning, and Django was able to swim a lot! Which, is great for training a 1 year old Golden Labrador.

Above is the worst pic ever taken of this handsome dog in mid shake.

Here is a better picture of the two posers I hang with.

After the dog walk I went on a training run for the Great British 10K 12 July.
Part of my 182.5 mantra goals is to run the 10K with 3K splits of 18.25 mins through the whole thing. (6min 6sec/Km).

Yesterday, I made the goal for Km’s 2,3,4 out of a 10Km run in 18min 18 secs. First time I’ve done it. I felt strong on the run too!

In the afternoon, I set off on the 3 hr trek to the Royal Free at Hempstead London. (Ok, I’d never noticed it takes about 182.5 mins to get there.)

Note: yesterday I was armed with a great quote from Marc and Angel Hack Life. “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional”. How brilliant is this quote? I’d already used it about a 100 times on the run.

I prefer to drive to Edgware, and tube into Hempsted. Then, if I’m early enough I like to stroll down Hempsteda High Street.

I was so early to Edgware I decided to have my car cleaned. Where I had a real nice chat with the Albanian boss. He was very cool! We talked about the UK (he’s lived here 14 years, and was swore in as a UK citizen a few years ago by Boris Johnson). He loves Cameron, because he is clamping down on free benefits. He loves Bill Clinton, because of how he handled the Serbs in Kosovo (he wants a statue). He talked about his memories as a 13 year old when it all kicked off, and how brutal it all was. He hates Yugoslavia! He likes boxing, but does know a bit about freestyle wrestling.

I was fascinated by this guy! On a humanity scale, this man was up there! Simple, hard working, family man, and seemed content. Thanks universe or whoever organized this meeting!

After about an hour I made my way to the Royal Free. Passing my favorite shop window in London.

I arrived at thd Royal Free with 35 mins to spare. …….. “Sorry sir, your appoint is at the Wellington (swiss cottage area)” (No worries, this must be the pain from the quote of the day.)

So I made my way to the taxi stand. 5 taxis there. 4 empty and 1 guy mudering a bucket of KFC. “Sorry mate, I’m having me dinnah” (pain? I’m still not buying… “Cheers mate”, was all I said.)

I flagged down another taxi, and still made it to the Wellington with 10 mins to spare. (I’d like to point out this Hospital is so POSH it has valet parking. And, only takes about 15 mins longer to get to as Edgware…pain? Nope! I wouldn’t have had the chat with my new Albanian friend.)

I checked in, and also inquired about a bill I was sent. “Sorry sir, the scans you had last week weren’t part of the Authorization Letter, £3300 please”. (Painful yet? You bastard universe! But, I’m still not chosing to suffer-I’ll claim it myself.)

Made it to the appoint bang on time. “Sorry sir, Prof is running a bit late”. (Pain? Nope, I know how in demand this man is, and in cancer appontments you have to assume some appointments are the first. These have no time constraints.)

It turns out he wasn’t that late (30 mins).

The news was good! Scans showed stable tumors. “Might only do 3 rounds of Lu-177 instead of 4. Taking a long term approach to limit the radiation for a couple years. And, there is possibly a better isotope coming in a couple years”. (Inside my head voice, “2 more years…guaranteed”)

He examined me and said “whatever you are doing….keep doing it”.

“Great” I said aloud “Thank you!. “182.5…positive visualization”, I said under my breath.

It was a really good appointment. We talked about purines & uric acid, vit D, angiogenesis, immunetherapy, Israel NETs, Great British 10K.

Next round of Lu-177, exactly the date I hoped for in August!

Cheers universe!

Respect,
Mark

P.S. On the way back to my car I really wanted to avoid the tube going through Kings Cross at 6pm. So, I took a black cab taxi to “Edgware”. But, the driver took me to “Edgware Road”. (Piss off universe, you and some black cab drivers are assholes! I’m not suffering!) So, I smiled at everyone on my way through Kings Cross…sorry if that creeped anyone out!